moose yaks: funsnap

WTF is FunSnap? It's a traditional twist on photobooths, which allows you to become the photographer and tell the story of the night from your point of view. Neon Moose sat down with owners Chris and Catherine to get the skinny...

Where did the idea come from? When I first started FunSnap with my former business partner, It came from originally wanting to do something artistic, yet something fun. We both also liked and appreciated photography. The idea of how they capture special moments in time and freeze them. Allowing you to look back at the photo and reminisce with someone. We also both appreciate art and design. So we wanted to do something in photography/art. We had the concept of helping undiscovered artists sell their work, almost like an agent. We then looked at different platforms on how we can do that but making it something different, we knew we wanted it to be different we just didn’t know how. We also knew that market was very saturated. So some research and creative thinking happened and we ended up drawing inspiration from around the world, specifically New York. I also knew that it had to be something current, something people can relate to and use. Such as technology. So we drew all the elements together and came up with FunSnap. Tell us the highlights of entrepreneurship. The highlights of entrepreneurship, this may come off as cliché, but it’s the perseverance and persistence that you endure through. Sometimes you wonder to yourself why do you do this, when there are bills to be paid, deadlines to meet and you’re going mental because you’re unsure if you will be able to meet the expectations. But you do, and that’s what keeps you going, knowing that you hang in there and battled it out. Through that you learn so much more about your business, idea or project and even about yourself. Best thing about your job? This is going to be another cliché, haha but there are so many things I love about it. I actually don’t find FunSnap to be a “job”. It’s something I enjoy, and having my sister on board, and potentially another person, makes it even sweeter. It’s nice to see people enjoying doing what they are doing, and passionately helping the business go to a similar goal. It’s also a challenge however, and I am learning still every day I am doing something for FunSnap. By no means am I an expert, are a veteran entrepreneur, I am always seeking advice from the people I trust, trying to figure out the best processes and how to make them work, and even that in itself I love. Because the willingness for other people to help me is insane. I could never ask for anything more than the generosity they have given me. What does creativity mean to you? Creativity to me is pretty simple. You look at something, and you think… how can I make this better, how can I make this into something I want and work for me and help other people. Creativity can come in so many different ways such as strategically, artistically or musically. So I think it’s just how one perceives how what they are doing is creative or not. Artists may not think they are being creative, but really just doing what they think is necessary, to someone else they will wonder how did they come up with that masterpiece? Every day, everyone is being creative. For example, in the simplest form, we are finding ways to get to work in ways that that suits us individually, we can walk to work….but they know that’s going to take some time and a lot of energy. So they find tools and methods that are available to them to make it to their destination quicker and with less energy so they can achieve their goal, which is to work, give their best performance and earn some money. To me that’s what creativity is. Creating ways to help achieve something better, either for yourself or the people around you. Everyone is so photo obsessed - why do you think that is? Well going on what I said in the first question, everyone loves the idea of capturing those special moments. Even before the first camera was invented, artists were painting master pieces of their favourite scenery or person. It’s no different to photos. The difference with photos is that they are so easily taken with our smart phones today. Easily shared with social media, easily edited with all the applications ready on our Tablets and Phone, and easily kept and stored and saved with all the cloud storage services. Although the process of taking a photo, developing and storing it have changed over the years. It still has that one similar thing. Nostalgia. When you look back at the photos after a week, month, or years… it triggers that memory, of all the good times, and bad, you have had with your mates, your family or with that special someone. Or that moment when you achieved something great, a milestone. It makes you want to do it again, but you know that moment will never be the same. Subconsciously I think us as humans know that every moment is different and we can’t recreate it, so we want to hold onto it as long as we can. On the flip side as well, we also want to share everything with everyone, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We can tell our friends, or followers, what we are doing at a push of a button. We get gratification from people seeing what we are doing, I say it’s the “pat on the back” the modern way, for a job well done or in this case, a post well done. Best event you've worked on? Can I be greedy and pick two? The first one would be Diner En Blanc, the very first one in Adelaide, its this event where all the guests wear white, and no one knows the location of the party until they get there. All they know is that there are certain meet up points around Adelaide, and then buses take them to this secret spot. It was a perfect first client and it fit in really well with what we wanted to achieve. It was also a privilege to actually even be part of the inaugural Adelaide Diner En Blanc. It was also our very first real client. This was especially good for me personally because it helped me realise what needed to be changed, and what can be done better. It also helped me validate the idea even further. The response from the guests was positively over whelming and we knew that we had something. The second would be The University of Adelaide’s first Open Night in 2013 as well. That was so much fun, we ended up using more of our supplies then originally anticipated, and everyone loved it. Since then the Uni has been one of our best clients and we have grown to have a great relationship together, which I cherish.